Thanks, I will get an electrician to come and try this as it is way out of my expertise to try.
Boiler / RCD Issue
- Thread starter parin
- Start date
Thanks, I will get an electrician to come and try this as it is way out of my expertise to try.
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Yes, that would be best but you have already had two.
It's difficult to advise as you have been told everything is fine but obviously it is not so one of them missed something.
It's difficult to advise as you have been told everything is fine but obviously it is not so one of them missed something.
I didn't think to ask to have a circuit for the boiler only, that is the last thing to rule out electrically, if that trips then it has to be the boiler. Feels like I've been chasing my own tail the last few weeks trying to find the issue!
You shouldn't have had to ask.
An electrician should have test equipment to determine where the fault is without all these 'home-made' methods.
Especially as yours does not seem to be an intermittent fault (which can be a pain) but can be reproduced at will.
An electrician should have test equipment to determine where the fault is without all these 'home-made' methods.
Especially as yours does not seem to be an intermittent fault (which can be a pain) but can be reproduced at will.
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there is something "odd" about boilers and RCDs. I was reminded of this yesterday when clearing out the junk. I came across the isolation transformer I had installed at my daughter's in an attempt to prevent the RCD being tripped by boiler when it fired up. All the evidence suggested the boiler was the problem but even when fed from an isolation transformer the trips still occurred. Other houses on the economy built estate had similar problems. The boiler was supplied from a 13 amp socket on the upstairs ring final. This ring was eventually moved to the non RCD side of the CU and the trips at boiler fire up no longer occurred.
Sorry I should have made it a bit clearer and put in a bit more detail to enable you to Know All.
The boiler was tested for earth leakage and found to have no significant leakage at DC 500v or at AC 230 volt ( measuring the current flowing from a ground referenced 230 volt source and into the boiler ) The use of an isolating transformer should have ensured any earth leakage in the boiler ( or earth currents induced during spark ignition ) could not affect the RCD, but the RCD still tripped. The isolation transformer was a toroid and not one with separate bobbins so capactive coupling across the isolation barrier may have been high enough for spark ignition induced earth currents to flow. But any other earth leakage in or around the boiler ( 50 Hz ) could not pass across the capacitive coupling anywhere near the level required to trip the RCD.
Cutting all earth paths would have required a lot of plumbing work.
So I put the boiler on a non rcd circuit and the rcd still tripped when the boiler was put on anything above 3.
I'm guessing one of the pipes is causing the wiring to heat up and trip, now it's just a case of finding it!
The sockets are on a ring circuit, is there anyway to isolate one room at a time so narrow down where the issue could be?
I'm guessing one of the pipes is causing the wiring to heat up and trip, now it's just a case of finding it!
The sockets are on a ring circuit, is there anyway to isolate one room at a time so narrow down where the issue could be?
Its possible, more likely I would have thought is that you have a drip which is worse when the pipes are hot and and a joing box below it
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